click here for larger image
HERBAL DUCK SOUP AT BEN THANH
A “progressive dinner” is an affair where a group of friends decide to have appetizers at the home of one of the friends, the soup or salad course at another’s home, the entree at another’s, and dessert at another’s. You “progress” from one home to another. Seems like they were more common back in the 70s and 80s, but they still probably happen today. Recently, a friend and I wound up having a “progressive lunch-break” by eating our soups in one Vietnamese restaurant and then our sandwiches in another.
For some time now, one of my friends has been telling me “Ben Thanh is open again!” Never having eaten at the original one, which is now closed, I’d say “Yeah, yeah” but not make a firm date to try the new one. Finally, everything aligned just right and my friend and I headed out to the new location of Ben Thanh Vietnamese Restaurant (4200 62nd Ave. N., Suite C, Pinellas Park; 727-526-3051).
click here for larger image
CHAR-GRILLED PORK & CRISPY CHOPPED EGG ROLLS ON THIN VERMICELLI SALAD
AT BEN THANH
I’m so glad my friend persisted in prodding me to try this restaurant. It’s a cozy little place, tucked into an unassuming strip mall up on 62nd Avenue. The owners proudly displays a framed copy of this St. Pete Times article about their reopening. The article is a good one that I hope you read; it fills in details on the history of the restaurant.
My friend had the Hu Tieu hoac Mi Vit Tiem (herbal duck soup). That’s the first picture in the post. You can see the steam rising off it. I had a sip. It was fantastic. I had Bun Cha Gio Thit Nurong (char-grilled pork & crispy chopped egg rolls on thin vermicelli salad), which is one of the dishes I usually order when I’m trying a new Vietnamese restaurant. It gives me a yardstick to compare different places. This is the second picture in this post. It was right up there with the very best I’ve ever had; the fish sauce was perfect.
click here for larger image
The owner of Ben Thanh, Susan Nguyen, is a very personable young woman. We got to talking when she was serving us. Their menu states that if you’re interested in a dish not on the menu, just ask, and they might be able to make it for you. Since I’ve been on a quest to find the best Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) in St. Pete, I asked her if she made them. She laughed and said no, she loves them too and she buys hers at Banh Mi Saigon (8730 49th St. N. #11, Pinellas Park, FL 33781; 727-549-9121). That got my attention because it was the second recommendation I’ve gotten for this place. The other was from my favorite Vietnamese hairdresser at Ann’s hair salon next to Ichiban’s Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar.
click here for larger image
MENU AT BANH MI SAIGON
So…after finishing our excellent soups at Ben Thanh, my friend and I drove up to Banh Mi Saigon. The idea was to just check it out…that became getting a sandwich for each of us to take home…which progressed to having a second course of eating a sandwich, NOW!
There have been other Inkwatu articles on banh mi in St. Pete (see The Land of Missed Sandwiches and Pho 97) which include some excellent links to non-Inkwatu articles giving detailed and extensive information about, and recipes for, this wonderful type of sandwich. Sadly, Cantho Oriental Market, mentioned in The Land of Missed Sandwiches, seems to have recently succumbed to the recession and closed its doors. I will check to see if, perhaps, it’s just moved–I’ll report back on that. Just this week, I ran across this post (The Evolution of Banh Mi) on 8asians–a blog I follow and enjoy very much.
click here for larger image
BBQ PORK BANH MI
Check out Banh Mi Saigon’s sandwich menu pictured above (be sure to click on the picture for larger, more legible version). They have all the different types of banh mi. (And look at the prices! It’s hard to find a better deal in town.) Pictured immediately above is what my friend got: BBQ pork (thit nuong). The photo immediately below is the sandwich I ordered: the special (dac biet). They were made in the real Vietnamese style with more veggies than meat (think of the meat as a garnish). I’m not positive, but I think the baguettes may be of the authentic recipe of half rice flour and half wheat flour. They were very light, very crisp, not heavy and tough.
click here for larger image
SPECIAL BANH MI
When we were waiting for our sandwiches to be prepared, a young workman came in and ordered a BBQ pork banh mi. He was very much a salt-of-the-earth Florida good-ol’-boy–albeit a young one–who looked as if he might usually order a burger and fries somewhere. As he and I waited for our orders, we started chatting. He told me that he’d never had a banh mi until just a few weeks before. He’d thought it was fantastic and had been waiting for an opportunity to return and get another one. If you’ve never had a banh mi, I hope you give one a try sometime. I predict that, like the pizza, the taco, the frankfurter, quiche, and the countless other comfort foods of America’s various ethnic émigrés, the banh mi will enter the everyday lexicon of the American national menu. If you come across other banh mi in St. Pete or Tampa you think I should try, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
click here for larger image
INTERIOR OF BANH MI SAIGON
Had we not been sated from our spectacular soups at Ben Thanh plus our sandwiches from Banh Mi Saigon, we could have easily continued our progressive lunch-break by getting some item at Dong A II, next door to Banh Mi Saigon. We contented ourselves with just wandering around the grocery for a while, enjoying the smells and sights. There are at least two Dong A groceries in St. Pete (the “A” in Dong A is pronounced “ah,” as in when the doctor says, “say ah…”). They are an excellent Asian grocery store. I am a big fan of Asian groceries: you can get interesting veggies at them, good bulk teas, and the prices on items such as sesame oil are a fraction of what a big national chain charges. Plus, you’re supporting local commerce by shopping at an ethnic food store.
Also next door to Banh Mi Saigon, is a Thai restaurant, Pu Thai (8730 49th St. N., Pinellas Park, FL 33782; 727-547-6556), with a lunch buffet! I’ve not eaten there yet, so I don’t know if I can recommend it. But…you can bet I’ll be going there soon! I’ll let you know if I think it’s a good place to eat.
The hours of operation for Ben Thanh are Tuesday-Friday, 11an09pm, Saturday-Sunday, 10am-9:00pm, closed on Mondays. Banh Mi Saigon is open 7 days a week–call 727-549-9121 for exact hours. I definitely recommend both restaurants.
click here for larger image
DONG A II
Dear Readers, I’m conducting an experiment for a while. I’m configuring this blog to only show the opening of the post in blog readers and emails so that, in order to read the full post, the reader must click on the title, which in turn takes them to the actual Inkwatu website. I’m doing this because when people read the entire post in an email or a reader, they never see the actual Inkwatu website–ever! They miss a lot of things available on the website such as special information about the area, photos, links, etc.. In addition, they never have the opportunity to click on advertisements, which is the only way bloggers earn even a few pennies (literally, just a few pennies—certainly not dollars). As time goes by, please let me know if you find this new configuration too bothersome. If enough people complain, I will go back to the other approach. Hopefully, however, this new approach, will bring us all added benefits.
![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
